In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal (here), the CEO of Diageo-- the world's largest distiller & vintner by sales-- put to rest any fears that the Johnny Walker brand would see a 'flavor extension' anytime in the near future. As we noted some time ago (here), the industry's performance has suffered over the last year-- especially in MSCI Europe where Diageo is domiciled:
A quick look at our point-and-figure charts reveals that most of the European names in the distiller & vintner group have begun to stabilize or have found some kind of support:
Better sales and earnings growth estimates (after FY1) would seem to be a positive sign for the group: